


Choices

by ThatWaxLion



Series: Confessions [2]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode Related, F/M, Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell Friendship, Malcolm Bright Needs a Hug, Slow Burn, Strained Friendships, Strained Relationships, Trust Issues, Truth, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, head case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:27:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29544456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatWaxLion/pseuds/ThatWaxLion
Summary: After surviving the elevator shaft, Bright confesses to Dani.Season 2 episode 6 related ('Head Case'). I recommend watching the episode first as it is heavily tied to it!
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell, Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Series: Confessions [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136450
Comments: 28
Kudos: 136





	Choices

**Author's Note:**

> So I originally wanted to continue Truth or Dare, but then episode 6 came out and I couldn't un-see it, so I had to change my plans on how to make Bright come clean. This a stand-alone, no need to read Truth or Dare prior to this one (only if you'd like, of course! :).

“The one thing you never do is bore me.”

Her smirk, as playful as on his couch. Her voice, as soft as the last time he heard her saying it. _Imagined_ her saying it. For a moment, he allowed himself to get lost in her eyes, a soft, sad smile lingering on his features.

“Goodnight, Malcolm.”

The use of his first name did not go unnoticed by him. It didn’t happen often and every time it did, it sent a jolt of warmth to his chest. He watched her leave, and felt that warmth slowly dissipating, leaving with her, until he was left with a bitter heaviness, pressing him down, further down, deeper into that elevator shaft.

“Goodnight,” he whispered to the empty room.

He slowly turned around, collecting his files. He was ready to go home; he wasn’t sure whether Ainsley got his text about meeting him at his place. Either way, it was time to leave. The precinct, this case, his subconscious, the taste of her lips on his.

_When you’re miserable and alone, remember – you had a choice._

The snake-like whisper of his father echoed in his ears, just like his own answer. And now, he understood. His father, or rather, his subconscious construction of him, was actually right.

He had a choice, he always did. And every time she asked him whether he was okay, he had the choice and he chose to lie over and over again.

_For someone so hellbent on uncovering secrets, you sure do have a lot of your own._

He kept telling himself that those secrets are not his own to tell, but the truth, as complicated as it might have been, was still the truth. And he kept on lying about it.

As he felt the tremor forming in his hand, he realized that he was still stuck in that proverbial elevator shaft, his hands still on one final box that had to be ripped open.

And as with all life decisions that make or break one, when he finally made it, it came with surprising ease and clarity.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

The harsh sound of her buzzer made her head snap up. She quickly tossed her book aside and got off the couch, glancing at her phone. 11:27 pm. She didn’t order any takeout. She didn’t expect anyone.

“Who is it?” she furrowed her brows as she pushed the intercom.

“Uh, hi Dani, it’s…me.” the sound of his familiar voice startled her. “It’s Bright. Uh…can I…can I come up?”

“Sure. I’m on the fifth” she muttered, noticing the slightly higher pitch of her own tone.

This was new. This was…unexpected. He never visited her before. She wasn’t even sure he knew where she lived. And as she glanced at the watch on her phone again, she figured this wasn’t a social visit. Not that _that_ would’ve been less surprising.

She opened her door slightly, her fingers rhythmically drumming on the doorpost. She quickly scanned her apartment. No…delicate items of clothing on the drying rack, no empty take-out boxes on her counter. Good. As she heard his approaching footsteps (she wasn’t surprised that he chose the stairs over the elevator) she quickly readjusted the edge of a photo frame on the wall next to the door. She realized what she was doing and let out an annoyed puff. She wasn’t sure why she was this nervous.

“Hi,” his breathless voice was a giveaway of his condition; without a doubt today’s events took a toll on his body.

“Hi.”

For a moment, they were just awkwardly standing at the door, facing each other. She quickly cleared her throat, gesturing him in. “Sorry, come in.”

As he took a couple of hesitant steps inside, she closed the door behind him, her eyes sweeping over him, lingering on the blood spatters on his collar for a moment. He didn’t go home to change after they had parted.

“Can I get you anything? Tea? Water?” she tried to act normal, casual, because she had no reason not to. Except for the fact that he never visited her place before and for some reason, him being there carried some sort of heavy significance, not that she was sure why.

He glanced at her, taking in her posture; her arms crossed over her chest; her left foot ever so slightly tapping on the edge of her rug. She was nervous. His presence in her space was making her nervous and he understood.

He longed for that tea, the warmth of it, the time it suggested he could spend in her company. But he wasn’t sure how long his stay would be welcome.

“Just water, thanks.”

As she made her way to the kitchen area, his eyes wandered around the living room, lingering on objects, colors, patterns. He shook his head lightly, as if willing away a temptation. No, he would not profile her apartment. Instead, he just let the comforting feeling of being in a real home settle in his chest. A real home, filled with random knick knacks, worn but comfortable looking furniture, warm lights, the scent of freshly washed clothing and the scent of her. Her home. Bright closed his eyes for a couple of moments, letting himself enjoy the simple sensation of feeling at peace.

As he heard the faint clinking of glass, he opened his eyes again and took the one she offered. She gestured towards the couch, brushing aside her book.

He couldn’t help himself and arched his brow for a second as he got a glimpse of the cover.

“The Big Sleep? In need for some professional tips and tricks of the trade?” he quipped, a smile curving up his lips.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “You of all people gotta admire Marlowe’s methods.”

He chuckled, sitting down next to her and for a split second, the image of her long, smooth legs in his lap flashed in front of his eyes. He wondered whether these images would be his constant companions from now on, always reminding him of what he would never have.

He sensed her eyes on his profile, her body angled towards him, her fingers absentmindedly playing with her rings. She was waiting. He gulped down his water.

It was time to open that last box.

“The night when Gil was stabbed, while we were at the hospital, I got a text from Ainsley saying I should go home. So, I went to my mother’s.” he was surprised how calm he was. How easily he found the words. “I found Endicott and her sitting in the living room.”

Her fingers stilled. He felt her posture stiffen.

“Something was very…off. Ainsley was sitting still, Endicott close to her, too close. She was crying, I could tell. I told Endicott that we had the search warrant, it was over for him. And he-” Bright’s voice trailed off for a second, his mind going back to that night, “-he made it very clear how little that mattered. He admitted that he got Gil stabbed. I pulled a gun on him”- Dani realized she was holding her breath unconsciously and felt her chest tighten. A cold chill crept up her spine.

-“but I couldn’t pull the trigger. I told Endicott that we will nail him, that we’ll find the evidence to convict him. At which point, he made it clear that since the whole city was basically in his pockets, this would never happen. And then…” his voice cracked; his hand started shaking violently. He was so close now, so close to end this.

_A partner you can actually be honest with…you’ll never have that if you open that box._

He clenched and unclenched his fist almost violently to still it. He wouldn’t stop now. He wouldn’t stop, until there was nothing more left to say, until there was nothing more left.

He cleared his throat again, his eyes now fixed on the glass on the table in front of him.

“As he was making it clear that we had no chance to ever defeat him, Ainsley… got up and slit his throat from behind.”

He heard the sharp intake of her breath, but she didn’t say a word.

“And then…she stabbed him repeatedly in his chest, his shoulders. Once his body hit the ground, Ainsley…snapped out of it. She…she couldn’t remember what happened. She was near catatonic. So…I told her that it was me…that I killed Endicott.” His voice sounded hollow, foreign to his own ears.

“I convinced her that it was me and that we had to protect our family, our mother. Together, we…took care of the body. I…dismembered him and we disposed of him…with Dr. Whitly’s instructions. We got rid of all the evidence, at least we thought so. But then, Ainsley’s memory started catching up with her. She’s started remembering things. She’s suffering from PTSD and has flashbacks from that night. She hasn’t pieced it together yet, but I know she soon will. Mother figured it out, too. And I…I don’t know how to protect her…them anymore.”

He went silent. He lowered his gaze from the glass, his head tilted in defeat. He was drained. All the adrenaline, all his energy was leaving him. And with that, the heaviness too.

He could practically feel the cold ground of the elevator shaft under him again. Free, at last. Now, there was only one more thing left to do. He would have to look into her eyes and witness losing her.

He finally lifted his head and turned towards her, looking into her eyes. And there it was, all written on her face. Shock, anger, disappointment, and something…else. Something that made his heart painfully tighten.

_You deserve all of it. Malcolm Whitly, you are the best person that I know._

Hurt. She was hurting. He was hurting her.

Her jaw was clenched, her facial expression hardened. For long seconds, they sat in silence, neither of them able to talk. She couldn’t find the words and he didn’t have any left.

Finally, he heard her clear her throat.

“Where’s your sister now?”

“I texted her to come to my place a while ago. I think she’s there now.”

Dani nodded, her expression unreadable, her voice calm, collected, her eyes avoiding his. “We will pick her up and we’ll call Gil and JT to meet us at the precinct in 30.”

“I want to call my mother and Edrisa too.”

Dani nodded and got up from the couch, picking up her car keys from the table. “Let’s go.”

Bright followed her and as he shut her door behind him, he caught one last whiff of the scent of her home.

xxxxxxxxx

It wasn’t any easier to hear the story for the second time.

Dani Powell stood in the far corner of the conference room, her back leaned against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. Her glance shifted between her team members, witnessing their transformation from shocked to disbelieving to angry to hurt. JT occasionally shook his head, as if unwilling to accept what he was hearing. Gil fixed his eyes on Bright, his face grim, listening to every word intently. For once, Edrisa sat completely still, glancing up to Bright from time to time with a look of sorrow and…sympathy. Dani felt a pang of jealousy, because she was sure her expression didn’t mirror that.

Jessica Whitly, always having a flair for the dramatic, was now uncharacteristically still and uncharacteristically…despondent as she absentmindedly played with the heart-shaped diamond of her necklace. Dani swallowed hard. She couldn’t imagine what went on inside that woman’s mind. Her husband, a serial killer put away in a psychiatric ward but still very much dominating their lives. Her daughter, a murderer, now taken into custody. Her son, an accomplice, his fate up in the air.

Dani looked at Bright. He was leaning against the desk for support, his shoulders hunched, his posture defeated. His voice was calm and as he recounted the events for the second time. He didn’t leave anything out. He didn’t add any reasonings or justifications. It was…the perfect statement.

After he finished and went silent, his eyes wandered around and found hers. This time, Dani couldn’t avoid it. And for the first time, she couldn’t see anything in his expression. It’s not that he tried to mask or hide anything. He was…empty. He was broken.

She felt her throat close up, because she knew she was losing him and she couldn’t do a thing about it, because she wasn’t JT, able to morally justify deeds like that when it came to one of their own; she wasn’t Edrisa, being able to forgive him everything just because he was…Bright. And she wasn’t Gil, able to see right from wrong every time.

With every second, he slipped further away from her, because she couldn’t reach out to him. She didn’t know how.

xxxxxxxxxx

2:47 am.

He stared at the flickering red light of his digital watch until his eyes began to sting. He turned his head away, now glaring into the darkness of his loft. He was sitting at the edge of his bed for the better part of an hour now.

After he gave his statement, things moved surprisingly quickly and smoothly. While Ainsley remained in custody, Jessica’s lawyers had him out on bail again in no time, awaiting trial from his home to determine his sister’s fate and his own role in the murder as joint principal or an accessory. He couldn’t talk to Gil alone yet; that would have to wait until…he didn’t know until when.

Her mother insisted on taking him to the family home, but he politely refused, even though she saw the anxious look in her eyes. And he understood why she was anxious and why she feared for him and yet, he couldn’t grant her that wish. He needed to be alone.

_Stay. Stay for her._ _A partner you can actually be honest with…you’ll never have that if you open that box._

Well, he opened that box and he said everything there was to say. And his subconscious was right, again.

And now, he just wanted to stare into the emptiness and wait for it to swallow him. _Stay. Stay for her._

For moment he thought he was imagining the knock on his door. But then he heard the prolonged shuffle of a key in the lock, a telltale sign of inexperienced usage and eventually, a soft click.

It was dark but he could still make out her silhouette. As she caught sight of him from across the loft, sitting on his bed, she stood still, not stepping closer.

He was genuinely surprised to see her. He thought they came to a closure once they had left her apartment, once they had driven in complete silence to the precinct, once her gaze slid away every time he searched her face, once their eyes did eventually meet and he saw her walls built back, brick by brick.

“What are you doing here?” his voice was hoarse from not having used it in a while and from using it too much before that.

“I…came to check on you.”

He wanted to stand up and walk over to her. He wanted to do a lot of things. But he couldn’t get up. He felt limp, unable to move. Stuck at the bottom of that elevator shaft.

He tried to make out her expression in the dark.

“Why?” his voice mirrored genuine confusion.

She didn’t answer, but slowly walked over until she was standing right in front of him. She switched on the lamp on his nightstand and he squinted from the sudden burst of light and blinked rapidly.

Dani’s eyes swept over him, immediately finding the blood spatters on his collar. He still hasn’t changed. She swallowed hard. “When was the last time you ate?”

He shrugged in response.

God, she was so mad at him. And seeing him like this, broken and defeated made her feel broken too and it only added to her fury now, because the very last thing she wanted to feel was pity and sympathy for Malcolm Bright and yet, she was here, in his loft, in the middle of the night, because that emptiness he saw in his eyes back at the precinct scared the hell out of her and pushed back every other, albeit very legitimate feelings of resentment.

“You need to eat. And you need to take a shower.”

He opened his mouth in protest but closed it. He was too tired to argue. So instead he got up and walked towards his bathroom, quietly closing the door behind him.

She let out a relieved sigh when she heard the sound of the running water.

About ten minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom, clad in a blue T-shirt and grey sweats, his hair damp, the blood spatters gone. He found Dani at the kitchen island with a plain bagel on a plate in front her. He walked over to her and she pushed the plate towards him.

He looked at it intently, then took a hesitant bite. He shook his head in defeat.

“Sorry.”

Dani wordlessly got up and walked to her bag she threw on his couch and rummaged in it until her fingers closed in on what she was looking for. She walked back to him and tossed the pack of Twizzlers in front of him on the counter. His lips curved upwards in a faint smile. He glanced at her. She shot him a defiant look, crossing her arms over her chest. He slightly nodded and ripped the package open. They sat in silence as he was slowly chewing the licorice. He finished half the package and drank the tall glass of water she put in front of him. He wasn’t sure whether it was the sugar intake, the drinking, the shower or her presence, but he started to feel…less empty.

“Why are you here, Dani?” he repeated his question from earlier. He looked at her intently, zeroing in on her micro expressions. 

Her lips slightly quivered. She knew exactly what drove her to his place, she just wasn’t sure if she could say it.

“I came to check on you because I was afraid you might…” her voice trailed off as she bit down on her lip, forcing her remaining thoughts back into her throat and the far back of her mind.

She finally looked back at him, finding his gaze that was now burning hers.

“…because even though I’m angry as hell and you covered up a murder and lied to me over and over again for a very long time and I could kick your ass, I still care… about you,” she gritted her teeth, desperately trying to keep her emotions out of her voice but she knew she wasn’t fooling him.

He nodded again and felt the warmth spreading in his chest. He didn’t want to risk breaking this fragile moment, because suddenly, he felt like he had again something to lose, but he was so tired of being alone, of being undeserving. He longed for her company and he didn’t want to, couldn’t be alone, again.

_But Dani won’t be there…not like she is here._

“Will you stay with me tonight?” his voice was barely audible, his gaze cast down, preparing himself to be pushed down that elevator shaft again.

“Yes.” Her voice was barely audible, too. And she wasn’t looking at him either, because she was still angry with him yet deep inside still convinced that Malcolm Bright was the best person she has ever known and she had absolutely no clue how to exist with these two extremes, but she also knew she had made the choice to stay with him a long time ago.

Finally, he walked back to his bed, fatigue and the unfamiliar feeling of peace overwhelming his body. He heard her moving behind him and for a brief moment, he worried that she would leave. But she was just heading to the bathroom.

He let out a sigh of relief and lied down on his bed, closing his eyes for a second. He will just rest for short while, until she returns, then they would talk and no matter what she would ask, he would tell her everything. No more secrets kept from each other.

When she returned, she found him on his bed, his eyes shut, the steady rise and fall of his chest indicating that he finally fell asleep. She walked over to the other side of the bed with quiet steps and sat down next to him on the mattress, shifting closer to him, her back leaning against the headboard and her legs stretched out. She noticed the empty restraints and she carefully pushed them aside, away from his body. Her right hand, now resting on the mattress, was inches away from his face. Her fingers brushed aside a stray lock, still a bit damp from the shower and she lightly stroke his temple as her gaze lingered on his haunted, but oh so captivating features. Yes, she was still very mad at him.

She was determined to stay awake for him, but she felt her eyelids growing heavier with each passing second. Besides, his steady breathing had a calming effect on her.

xxxxxxx

He stirred lightly in his sleep. Something vaguely familiar reached his senses. He opened his eyes. Judging by the greyish light seeping through the window, it was still only dawn. He turned and found her sleeping, curled up next to him. For a moment, he panicked. This couldn’t still be…

He sat bolt upright, panting. She stirred and opened her eyes.

“Go back to sleep Bright or I will kick your ass.” she murmured.

He smiled in the dark, as he could breathe again. He slowly leaned back, and reached out his left arm, his fingers finding hers. They were cold and she didn’t pull back.

He was home, in bed, safe.

He closed his eyes, letting her familiar scent and her close proximity lull him back to sleep.

_But Dani won’t be there…not like she is here._

She was here.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for sticking till the end, I hope you liked it! Please know that any and all comments are welcome and very much appreciated. :)


End file.
